A Good Time to Call
by just-O
Summary: Roy Mustang gets and unexpected call in the middle of the night from a certain Elric brother. PARENTAL!RoyEd FLUFF
**WARNING: Minor...wait no, definite OOC-ness (again). Did I try to keep them in character? Yes. Did I succeed? Of course not. The inner crazy cannot be contained. She is out of control...So if you are easily offended by normally strong characters being weak, and normally gruff characters being FLUFFY, this is not the fic for you. Turn around and go find another fanfic. Parental!RoyEd (Also if you like Alphonse, I'm sorry...there is minimal Alphonse.)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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Roy rolled over with a frustrated groan when he found his sleep disturbed by an annoyingly high-pitched ringing sound. He swiped blindly for his alarm clock, eventually knocking the device to the floor. It was a sturdy little piece of equipment that received this treatment every morning, and every morning without fail the little blighter would shut off.

So when the ringing continued, Roy blearily opened one eye to take a peak. He sat up and stared daggers at the tiny clock before suddenly realizing that the ringing was coming from the other side of the room. He swished his duvet off his legs and slowly padded across the room to grab the phone.

"Hello?" he said, rubbing at his face. "Alphonse? Do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked, not even trying to hide his irritation. Then he frowned. "He what?" He could feel himself waking up more as he listened to the boy. "Alphonse, I'm sure he's fine." He flipped his desk lamp on. "Okay, fine, I'll come check. But your brother really better be sick."

He hung up the phone, threw on clothes, grabbed his car keys and walked out of the house. He didn't even bother locking up There was no point. He figured he'd be back within the hour. Besides, if anyone did try to steal his shit at this hour, they pretty much deserved it.

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Roy slammed his car in park, right out front of the barracks and strutted across the dirt lawn. "Unbelievable," he muttered to himself. This whole situation was exactly that. Never in his life did he ever imagine himself being called in the goddamn middle of the night over a stomach ache of all things.

He stopped at the door of the Elric brothers' barracks room and rapped curtly on the door. Alphonse must have been standing by because the door flew open an instant later to reveal the large suit of armor.

Roy got straight to the point. "Where is he?"

"Oh-he's in the bathroom," Alphonse stuttered, gesturing to a door on the right. "He kicked me out here so I called…"

Roy waved his hand dismissively and strode over and knocked. "Fullmetal?" He tried the handle and opened the door when he found that it was unlocked. The blond boy was curled up on his side in the middle of the floor, holding his arms securely across his midsection.

Roy leaned up against the doorframe and crossed his arms. "Well? What's wrong with you?" he asked accusingly, still upset from having to come over this late.

Ed groaned in pain and grumbled, "Go 'way…"

Roy rolled his eyes. _Typical._ "Look, Elric. I came over here because your brother was worried. But if you're gonna be obstinate, I'm going back to bed." He made to step back out into the Elric's living room so he could tell Al he was leaving, but he paused when a low whine of distress came from the prone preteen.

"Wait…" a small voice reluctantly pleaded.

"Fullmetal, if you're not feeling well, then just tell me. I'm already here. What's wrong?" Roy asked again before giving the boy a once over. "And get off the floor. You should be in a bed." His criticism received a series of head shakes and the boy curled tighter into a ball. He stepped back into the bathroom and kneeled down next to his young subordinate. "Edward, this is ridiculous. Let's go. Get up," he commanded, giving the boy's shoulder a pat.

Again Ed shook his head. "No," the blond one whispered, his usual stubbornness fading. "My stomach hurts."

Roy rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, I got that. Alphonse told me. Do you feel nauseous? What kind of pain is it? Dull, achy..." He started listing them off, hoping one would stick. This was getting awkward for him. He'd never had to deal with a twelve year old who was sick. He barely even had to take care of himself when he was sick. All he ever seemed to need was more sleep, but apparently that wasn't-

"Sh-sharp?"

" _Sharp?"_ That got Roy's attention and his forehead crinkled.

He let his hand rest on the scrawny shoulder in a slight attempt to provide comfort, and he started to study his subordinate more closely. Roy slid his hand up to Ed's forehead and grimaced. "How long have you had a fever, Fullmetal?" Roy started prying more aggressively as he started cataloguing the information. He was somehow managing to keep his tone calm, dare he say gentle, despite his earlier frustration.

"Did you throw up at all?" Ed nodded. _Great._ He had a feeling he knew what was wrong with Ed. It matched almost perfectly with a condition he'd suffered when he was just a few years young than Ed. There was one pretty sure way to find out, but Ed would have to be moved for that and it wasn't going to be fun for either of them.

Roy rubbed his palm up and down Ed's flesh arm comfortingly. "Hey, I know it probably hurts to move, so I'm sorry but I need you to roll over now," he disclosed. He manoeuvred the twelve year old so that he was flat on his back and the movement elicited a long, high-pitched mewl of protest.

"I know, I'm sorry, Ed. I need you to move your arms so I can get a better look," he requested, but really it was more of a soft demand. When Ed didn't release his stomach, Roy grasped the smaller wrists and pulled them away from the boy's midsection. He proceeded to hook his fingers under the hem of the white t-shirt and started carefully pressing his fingers into different parts of Ed's abdomen, causing the youth to gasp at the initial contact, his hands were cold and the touch had been rather unexpected.

He continued to prod around for a bit, but stopped when he pressed softly on the lower right side of his tummy. Ed relaxed for a moment and Roy thought maybe he'd been wrong about his diagnosis. He wasn't a doctor, after all. But then Ed scrunched his face and whined pathetically when Roy released the pressure, sounding exactly like the child that he was and scaring the crap out of his commanding officer.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Roy apologized quickly. He knew it hurt. He'd felt the same pain before. He pulled the shirt back down and gave Ed's tummy a soft pat. "Alphonse," Roy called for the younger brother. He stood up and walked to the door.

"Sir?" Alphonse clanked up to met him in the front room.

"I've got to take your brother to the hospital," he said plainly. "And I'm sorry, Alphonse, but I need you to stay here for now. I'll have Riza drop by as soon as we get things taken care of but I just don't have enough room for you in my car."

"Oh, I see," the armor said dejectedly.

"I'm sorry, Alphonse. There's boxes in my back seat and-"

"N-no. It's-I understand. As long as brother gets taken care of. I can wait."

Roy nodded his approval. "I'll have Riza call you. I promise. I'm a man of my word." He started back towards the bathroom before turning to add, "And don't worry. He'll be fine. I'm glad you called."

Roy left the front room and went back to Edward who appeared to have started crying. He knelt back down and placed a hand on Ed's too warm forehead, smoothing back his bangs as tears leaked down Ed's face. "Hey Ed, how you holdin' up?" His features softened at the small, choked cry that answered. "I need to take you to the hospital, okay?" Ed let a terrified sob escape. Roy's eyes widened in surprise and he reacted instantly. "Shhh, shhh, it's okay. You'll be fine," he hushed in his deep, warm voice. "Can you get up?" He received a small headshake. "Ok, then I'm going to carry you."

"Nooo..." Ed voiced his opposition to the idea, weakly pushing his commanding officer away.

"It's just to the car, Edward." Roy couldn't help but chuckle, as he helped Ed sit up.

Edward muttered something that sounded like blackmail, as he continued to let silent tears roll down his cheeks.

"I wouldn't do that. It'd hurt my reputation if people knew I cared," Roy defended sarcastically, supporting Ed with a strong hand in the middle of his back. "And I know you don't like to accept it, but you _are_ a kid. Sometimes, kids get carried." He poked Ed in the forehead affectionately, getting the boy to make eye contact. "And it's okay to ask _adults_ for help. Nobody would think any less of you." Ed nodded with a sniffle. "Now let's go," he hefted the child into his arms and stood up before walking out the door.

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"Elric," a plump brunette sitting at the desk called out blandly to the waiting room. Roy dropped the magazine he'd been reading and walked up. "Good morning, Mr. Elric, your-"

"Mustang," Roy corrected.

"What?" She looked peeved and not in the mood for jokes.

"Mustang. My last name is Mustang. Not Elric. We're not related."

The woman glanced over his shoulder to the blond boy curled up on the chair. Then she looked back at Mustang and up to the black mop on his head. Her eyebrow raised and her mouth pulled to one side. "Are you are his-"

"I'm his commanding officer, ma'am."

"I meant his guardian, Mr. Mustang," she stated, not happy about being cut off before. "We need the _guardian_ to sign off on the consent forms."

Roy smiled cheekily. "I'm that as well, Miss…" he looked at her name tag and then her left hand, "Mrs. Beckert." He waved his hand and pointed to the folder sitting on her desk with a tab labeled 'Elric, E.' "He's been to here before for a physical. It should have a notation in his file. But if it doesn't, I can have one of my men bring the documents to prove it."

She got a funny look on her face but picked up where she left off. "Right, well, Mr. Mustang. Your, uh...Edward can be seen by Dr. Fuller now if you want to bring him back."

"Of course. I'll just be a second." Roy walked back to the chairs, where a dozing Edward was currently curled up into a tight ball,and tapped the younger alchemist on the shoulder. "It's time to go back, Edward."

Edward groggily opened his puffy, still red eyes, taking in his surroundings. A hand was waiting for him to take it, so he grabbed it and got lifted out of the chair. Immediately he put pressure on his lower right side with his automail limb. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much if he pressed it.

"Are you alright walking?" Roy asked, reaching to help.

Ed waved him off and gave him a strained response. "I'll be fine. It's not that far, right?"

"No," Roy said in confirmation. They got to the observation room and Roy stopped outside the room. "Do you want me to go back to the waiting room? Or can I come in?"

Ed answered immediately. "Don't leave!"

There was no hesitation whatsoever, which surprised Roy considering the content of the response. It seemed like it surprised Ed as well, since the youth turned a bright shade of pink, probably from embarrassment when he took the time to consider how childish he must have sounded. _Could be the fever_ , Roy determined as an afterthought. _And it's late...well, early. Same difference._

Roy gestured for Ed to hop on the exam table as he stood by. A moment later, there was a solid knock, knock and the door opened inward.

Dr. Fuller was a tall, very slight, young woman with sandy blonde hair pulled into a messy bun and bright hazel eyes hidden in plain sight behind a pair of wire-framed glasses. She wasted no time and immediately introduced herself.

"Good morning, you guys are here pretty early this morning? I'm Dr. Fuller," she smiled and shook Roy's hand. The woman was enthusiastic and had a bubbly personality. She then turned to Edward who was sitting on the table and bent down so she was eye level with him. "Well, you've just got the most gorgeous eyes. I hope those aren't what's bothering you, Mr. Elric," she joked playfully. Roy smiled when he saw a flush creep onto Ed's cheeks and he looked away bashfully. She was good with kids.

"So, Mr. Elric," she started. She grabbed the end of her stethoscope and placed the small circular part on her cheek, just letting it rest. "Does Mr. Elric work for you? Or would you prefer something else?"

"Ed is fine," he answered, watching her fingers idly play with the end of the device.

"Okay, Edo, so what brings you here this morning? I read a few things, but maybe you can help me jog my memory." She winked.

"My stomach?" he said, looking up at Roy for confirmation.

"Ah that's right. You're having some pain on the left side? Or...wait a minute...perhaps it was the right…" She gave a sly smile and pointed to his hand, which was still applying a fair amount of pressure to his abdomen. "Can I have you lay down for me, Ed?" She helped him maneuver all the way onto the table. "And now, I need you to let go of your tummy. Can you do that?"

Ed hesitated and started to rescind his automail hand. "Ah-ow!" He gave a sharp intake of breath and clenched his teeth when he felt a sharp pain shoot through his side. He quickly put the pressure back.

Dr. Fuller nodded, letting him hold his side a little longer. "So does it hurt less if you press it, and hurt more when you let it go, hun?" Ed nodded. "That's called rebound tenderness, Edo," she informed him. She felt his forehead and cheeks. "And you've got a little bit of a fever. Have you been feeling nauseous or like you were going to thrown up recently?" His brows knit together giving her confirmation that he had probably at least gotten sick at some point. She grabbed his wrist and gave a warning tug, before pulling his metal limb away slowly. "Shh, shh, shh, I know, hun, I know," she cooed when he let out a pain filled whine. She lifted his t-shirt and touched the lower right area of his stomach softly with the back of her fingertips, feeling the warmth that resided there. Then her hand was being pushed away by the metal limb and watery eyes pleaded silently for her to let him put pressure back on his side. Her eyes softened and her lips flattened into a straight line as she grabbed the small metal wrist. "Sweetie, you can't push on it."

Roy walked over and took both of Ed's wrists into his own hands. He looked down solemnly at his distressed subordinate. "Let her work, Ed." Ed's eyes locked onto his and he felt Ed's human hand squirm to hold his. "Okay." Roy said, letting the blond squeeze his hand tightly.

The corners of Dr. Fuller's mouth twitched, showing her gratitude and she continued her exam. She felt both sides and was able to confirm swelling in one side but not the other. She took his vitals. Then she turned to Roy and spoke softly."Okay. I'm going to go get a nurse. It's definitely his appendix," she stated matter of factly. Like she saw these cases every week. "It hasn't burst, which is good, but we're going to go ahead and remove it once we get your consent. It's the safest way to make sure there are no future complications."

"That's what I guessed. I had mine out when I was ten," Roy said giving her a nod of approval. "I'll sign whatever papers you need me to. When will he be taken back?"

"I'd like to do it as soon as possible," she smiled and grabbed her clipboard. "I'll be right back."

The door shut and Roy turned his head to look down at his charge and gave him a soft yet teasing smile. "Congratulations, Edward. You're getting your appendix removed."

"Nooooo….." Ed pleaded, tears spilling over, down from the corner of his eyes and down towards his ears.

"Yeeeeees…." Roy said back to him, drawing out the word just as Ed had done. Not really thinking, he wiped some of the water works away. Ed's mouth twitched and he either laughed or sobbed; Roy wasn't sure which. His left hand was still in Ed's hand so he squeezed it reassuringly and brushed Ed's bangs off his forehead with the other. "You'll be fine. And I'm sure it'll be nothing compared to getting automail, right?" The corner of his mouth lifted, and Ed smiled back even though his eyes were still leaking.

There was a knock and an auburn-haired nurse walked in with a bed on wheels that had a small machine attached to the head.

Ed looked at the machine anxiously.

"Hi there, hun. Don't worry about this little guy here," she said, patting the machine like it was a beloved pet. "We're just gonna take this mask," she lifted up a plastic mask, "and put it over your face like this." She put the mask over her nose and mouth area. "Then we're gonna count backwards from ten. It'll help calm you down before we take you back, alright? But first let's get you down here on this bed." Roy helped Ed step across from the table to the bed and settle in. Then the nurse moved to put the mask over Ed's face, and made sure it fit snuggly. "Ready?" Ed nodded. "You just need to breathe normally. So let's start counting backwards from ten starting...Now," she flipped on the switch and the machine buzzed to life.

Ed's eyes widened, momentarily surprised by how loud it was, but he made sure to count with the nurse. "Ten...nine...eight…" Roy watched as the tension around Ed's mouth and eyes loosened along with the boy's grip on his hand. "Seven...six...five…" His voice was quieter and his eyelids drooped so only half his pupil was visible. "Four…three….." The last number was breathy, and his body relaxed completely. Roy took the small hand and moved the it down to rest by boy's side, making sure it didn't fall off the exam table.

The nurse smiled at him. "Alright, we'll go ahead and start prepping him for surgery while you sign these." She pulled out a small folder of papers and handed them to him. "If you go back out to the waiting room, Mrs. Beckert will assist you."

Roy recoiled and released a disgruntled huff. "Right. Of course, she will…" The young woman started rolling the bed away. He followed but they parted ways almost instantly as he headed to the waiting room to confront the woman he least wanted to receive assistance from.

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Ed could hear voices talking in hushed whispers from varying directions when he started to come back around.

"Colonel, did the nurse say when brother would wake up?" Clearly that was Al, unless he had a brother he didn't know about.

Whoever spoke next had to be the colonel. "She said it depends. He's sm-," there was a sudden pause and Ed felt his brow twitch preemptively. "The anesthesia they used might affect him more, but she said it'll be anytime now."

"I hope it's sooner than later….I still feel bad. Maybe if I had made him to go to the doctor sooner he wouldn't have needed surgery…"

"He's stubborn, Alphonse, there's only so many times you can suggest he do something. You made the right decision to call me when you did. Next time you want him to see a doctor though, just tell me and I can make it happen."

"Bastard…." Ed groaned weakly, his voice just barely coming out in a breathy whisper. He cracked his eyes open and blinked rapidly at the bright hospital lights. He felt like crap. "I feel sick."

"Are you going to be sick, brother?" Al fussed, looking around for a small trashcan.

"He's just groggy from the medicine," Mustang assured the eleven year old in the armor. "And he's on a lot of pain meds right now so if the dose is a little bit high that could be making him feel sick as well. I'll talk to the nurse about that."

Ed lazily watched the man, still in civilian attire, walk out the door. He sighed and looked to his brother. "Sorry, Al…"

"Me too. I should have tried harder to get you to go to the doctor."

Ed laughed, but it only came out as a small puff of air and a quirk of his lips. "Well, it looks like you won't have to worry about that anymore since you two are going to be double teaming me now."

"I know. I feel so much better now," Al laughed. "I won't have to ask him though, if you just start taking care of yourself and going to the doctor when you're sick, you know."

"Right," Ed acknowledged and closed his eyes. "I'll try to be better about that in the future."

The door opened and two pairs of footsteps walked into the room. One of them was wearing what sounded like female flats, so that must have been the nurse. Ed peeked an eye open and watched the same auburn-haired nurse from before fiddle with a machine. "How do you feel, hun?"

"Tired…" he sighed.

"That's normal. We'll be keeping you overnight here as standard procedure post surgery. Tomorrow you'll be going home with Mr. Mustang for a couple days until we take you off prescription antibiotics and pain medication. Go ahead and get some rest, hun." She clacked back out of the room.

Ed groaned disappointedly. "I have to go home with you?"

"Just for a week, Fullmetal. Unless you want to go stay with Hughes and Gracia. But they've still got the baby, so you might get better rest at my place. I can guarantee I won't wake up in the middle of the night crying."

"Can Al come?" Ed asked, failing to stay awake.

"Of course he's coming," the colonel stated, like that should have been obvious. "I'll be working from home next week, but Alphonse will be keeping an eye on you most of the time."

"I think he fell asleep, Colonel," Alphonse whispered.

He looked at Ed, whose chest rose and fell in time with his breathing. The younger brother was right. Edward had fallen back into a deep medicated sleep.

Mustang put a hand on his waist and his face screwed up into an amused smile "What are we gonna do with you, Edward." He said pensively. Then he plopped back down in one of the bedside chairs, looking on at the older Elric fondly.

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 **A/N: Sooo...this was actually the beginning of my travels into the writing of fanfics of the FMA variety. It's been sitting on my computer for a couple months because I hit a wall when I deemed it too OOC. It is very different from the original draft, and only slightly less OOC than its predecessor(s). After writing childish Ed on a regular basis over the past couple weeks, I finally decided to just say "screw it," we're finishing it and posting it. And now you lovely people have taken the time to read it (or you didn't read it and you just really like Author's Notes, which is weird). If it wasn't to your liking I'm sorry. I wrote it to my liking. Elle, oh Elle.**

 **If you like to bring happiness to people, please let me know what you liked or didn't like with a review.**

 **O**


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